Saturday, 23 June 2018

How did you come to
write speculative fiction? What attracted you to the genre?

I was always going to write
speculative fiction. I was introduced to the genre when I was a young teen in
the form of The Sword of Shannara. I fell in love with epic fantasy and the
quest and have been hooked ever since. Apart from The Quest, I love the growing
into power themes often found in fantasy. Also the stories are generally in
series and as far as I’m concerned, if I love the characters, I want the story to
never end.

Are you a plotter? Pantser? Or somewhere
in-between?

When I began writing, I was
definitely a pantser but now I would say I’m in between. I do a loose outline
based on story structure and have a sense of how the story will flow and
broadly what will happen, before I start. However, the scenes don’t usually
flow as I expect them to and sometimes the characters surprise me.
Occasionally, as with my last book, a dragon pops up from nowhere and inserts
himself in the story.

Do you have a favourite of your characters?

One of my
favourite characters is Vard Anton from Princess Avenger and Princess in Exile. He’s a shape shifter and can
transform into bear, wolf and hawk. He’s such an interesting man and so sexy
and capable but flawed as well.

Then
there’s sorceress Katrine from The Master and the Sorceress. She’s flamboyant and reckless
but has so much integrity and is a super strong woman. I love her too.

What are you currently working on?

I’m
currently working on a spin off from The Elf King’s Lady calledElf Princess Warrior.
This continues the story of the elven conflict with the humans which was
explored in Elf King. The heroine is elf Gwaethe Arenil whose people are
embroiled in a civil war. She wants peace with the humans of the kingdom but
there is an elven faction that wants to take back kingdom lands at all costs.
Gwaethe has developed feelings for army captain, Jacques Vorasava, so you can
imagine that is a tricky romance to conduct.

What is your favourite part of the process of writing?

I love
editing. Writing the first draft is sometimes like pulling teeth, although some
scenes write themselves—I find these contain my best prose. However, I enjoy
the whole editing process—love taking my words and adding polish and sparkle to
them.

What can we expect from Bernadette Rowley in the future?

In future
you can expect more fantasy romance from the world of Thorius. I have a lot of
loose ends to tie up there. Also, I would dearly love to keep working on my
space opera series. It’s quite unique and I have two out of nine books
completed. I believe it would find a keen audience—so look out for a genre
change!

Who are your favourite authors?

The
authors who have influenced my writing most are Raymond Feist, David Eddings
and Robert Jordan- they are all fabulous authors who write/wrote epic fantasy
sagas.

I’m currently reading CJ Archer’s ‘Evermore’ which is book 3 in her Emily Chambers
Spirit Medium trilogy. CJis an Australian Indie author who has several
brilliant series. I can highly recommend them.

Do you have a favourite spec fiction movie or TV series?

Funny you
should ask. Dr Who is my all time favourite spec fic series, especially the
series with David Tennant and Matt Smith. I also love Game of Thrones and am
eagerly awaiting Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series adaptation to television.

Do you have advice for emerging writers?

Write,
write, write. Also write what you know and love- it helps you create more
vibrant worlds.

Desperate
sorceress, Katrine Aranati, no longer knows how to deal with the woman she has
become. She runs headlong into a man whose heart’s desire is order and control.
James Tomel, master jeweler, is outwardly a pillar of society but he hides more
than one dangerous secret.

When
they are thrown together on a trip to Brightcastle, fierce creatures from
legend pursue them but even more dangerous are the feelings swirling between
them. When their hearts and bodies come together, one will flee while the other
demands an accounting. Can they find common ground where their love will
flourish or will secrets and betrayal kill all hope of a life together?

Find
out if love and chaos can defeat order and control in the fourth exciting
instalment of the Wildecoast Saga.

Thursday, 14 June 2018

In a bleak future, where government systems are
breaking down and poverty and violence reign, on an abandoned farm in Montana,
Susannah had a simple plan. She’d capture an alien, sell him to the resistance,
and use the money to save her son.

Instead, Susannah had an arrogant alien trapped in a pit who acted as if she
was the prisoner. He wanted to kill her dog and insisted she should care for
the wound he sustained when he fell into the pit she dug to trap him. On top of
that, she had no way to know if the resistance got her message. Every day that
passed, she doubted her decision to hand Azagor over to the resistance.

But her son, her baby, was being held by people who considered him unclean because
he was conceived out of wedlock—and time was running out.

usannah slammed the trapdoor over the crudely
dug pit she’d caught her enemy in. “I’ve got you now, devil, you won’t be
haunting innocent women in these mountains again,” she crowed. She caught a
glimpse of a stick protruding from a muscled green shoulder as the door slid in
place with a metal screech.

The trapdoor was
designed to slide over the pit with a lock to keep prisoners in. The lock slid
easily in place, and she frowned down at it. Did it used to be this clean or easy
to slide over the pit? She shrugged. There wasn’t time to think about it now. From
inside the pit, something scraped against the dirt wall and a growl rumbled up
from the depths of the dark hole.

Susannah inched
out of his sight, half convinced the devil would try to climb out. He might be
trapped inside the pit, but he could reach through the gaps in the trapdoor and
grab her.

“Female.” He sure didn’t
sound human.

Susannah sank down
on her knees and cautiously crawled to the edge of the pit, trying to see in
without the creature inside noticing. Pebbles scraped her knees through her
heavy black dress that kept tripping her. “Kick off, already.” She whispered
the forbidden words defiantly.

Brother Joseph had
said it was a sin to use those words, but she couldn’t see how it was a sin to
say the same thing with different words. And she wouldn’t feel guilty for
wishing the monster dead.

“Show yourself,
human.”

Again, goose bumps
spread over her body. His voice, from inside the pit, sounded like a shovel
when she shoved it into the dry rocky ground on the east of the farm. It
scraped over her skin, invaded her body. It should make her want to run away
screaming, but instead she leaned closer to hear more.

She shook off the
strange feelings and answered him. “Why should I?”

Never before had
she dared be this openly defiant and it was good. Blood rushed through her
veins. Large green hands gripped the iron grid she’d locked over the pit and
shook it. For one horrendous moment, she
thought he would break through the iron. She’d dug the pit deeper, day after
day, until she thought her arms would fall off. And this green man with the
horn on his head could still reach it.

Susannah jerked
upright. Her heart hammered so hard she couldn’t hear her own ragged breathing or
any of the everyday noises on the farm. She breathed deep until most of the
panic subsided. His hands had disappeared inside the pit again, and she sagged.
She’d thought for sure he’d break that door and get to her.

“I said show
yourself,” he ordered again. He spoke English with a slight accent, his rough
voice grating against her nerves. She’d believed that he was a demon come to
haunt her when he appeared before her almost four years ago. Then last year,
Caine, a brother who moved from farm to farm, had told them about the aliens.
She wouldn’t presume to know better than Caine, the man she’d come to love, but
she couldn’t see how an alien that supposedly came from high up in the sky, could
speak her language like this one did.

“Don’t order me
around, ungodly creature.” This time it would be different. No one would punish
her for seeing him like they did four years ago when he’d appeared before her. Instead, she’d use him to get off this farm and find
Noah. She fisted her hands in the clumps of grass growing sparsely all over the
farm. It had cost her everything, and he had no right to talk to her in that
know-it-all way. Ghostly little legs crawled over her skin, and she tightened
her grip on the grass blades until her knuckles ached. It was over, the
whippings, the punishments in the pit with the creatures coming at night to
crawl into her hair and over her body, the endless sermons. She still woke at
night, her body sore from her frantic slapping at creatures that came out at
night, in her dreams, to crawl all over her with scratchy little paws. She
brushed her hand over her braided hair and then forced herself to stop, to
lower her hand and rest it on her knee. No insects crawled over her.

An exaggerated
sigh from inside the pit. The rough ground scraping against her knees, she
carefully crawled closer and peered over the edge of the hole. Straight into eyes
that looked exactly the way she always thought evil satanic eyes would look. Her
body vibrated, as if she’d hit an unyielding rock with a pick axe. Those eyes
had haunted her dreams. He stared up at her out of a face with sharp
cheekbones, a big jaw. All those years ago, when he’d suddenly appeared before
her, she’d been too scared to notice anything beyond the fact that he was green
and large with unholy red eyes. She’d thought him evil incarnate, the devil
come to take her for her sins, and had run screaming. She gripped the edge of
the trapdoor until her nails tore. If only she hadn’t screamed. If she could go
back and change her reactions that fateful day, maybe she’d still have Noah.

“I am wounded
female.” He sprawled against the dirt wall of the pit, like a brother newly given
his own farm and women to supervise.

He wore a silver
uniform, but the skin on his hands, neck, and face were green and gold. It
reminded her of the skin of the snake Joseph showed them once when he did a
sermon on the serpent in paradise. The being in front of her had the evil
beauty that fascinated and repelled at the same time. Worse than those eyes were
the horn growing out of his head and into his forehead. She’d never thought
demons existed, but that horn almost convinced her. Her demon. No matter that
Caine said he was an alien, in her mind she’d called him that ever since that
day he’d appeared and destroyed her life.

During one of his
trips to the farm, after they’d become close, Caine had given her a TC. A
wonderful box with a button you pressed, and then moving images of wondrous
things appeared. Next to the gifts from her mother, that was the best thing
she’d ever been given. She’d kept it hidden from the others. It told her about
the aliens, and still, in her mind, she called him a demon. He’d appeared to her
that one time, long ago. One moment she was alone and the next he stood in
front of her. Big and mean and glaring at her with red eyes straight from hell.

That was when Brother
Joseph’s punishments had gotten worse. Turned more evil than this alien
creature. He’d drawn the others into his hatred for her. A hatred that never
made sense to her. How could you hate someone because of the shape of their
eyes?

After that time
four years ago, the evil red-eyed creature never showed himself again. But she
knew he watched. Had felt his gaze burn over her. Branding her. She didn’t dare
mention this to the others, but she feared the creature wanted her. That he
wanted to have relations with her.

She’d almost
gotten used to feeling his gaze on her every few days when, a year ago, he’d
disappeared. She didn’t even want to admit it to herself, but she’d almost
missed feeling his presence. Then, last month, her personal demon had returned.
She never saw him, but she knew he was there. Watching her. Always watching
her.

Caine had told her
that aliens came from the sky and claimed they now ruled Earth. The brothers who ran the farms in
Montana didn’t recognize outside authority and had ignored the fact that aliens
now walked on Earth. She didn’t know if she believed anyone could fly through
space in something like a car. Even if it had wings, she didn’t think it could
fly that high. And how did they breathe up there? The only reason she
discounted Brother Josephatus’s theory, that they crawled out of hell, was that
she refused to agree with the man who took Noah from her. About anything.

She frowned down
at her prisoner. “Your wounds are not my concern.” He was frighteningly big,
but not close to the size the alien on the TC had been. That one had easily
gripped a human in one ugly claw.

“Are you a baby
alien?” Was it right to keep a baby alien trapped? Even a scary looking one? It was difficult to judge with him
sitting down, but she thought maybe he’d grown since she last saw him.

The alien jerked
upright from being hunched over. He didn’t look wounded or weak anymore, even
with the blood stained stick protruding from his shoulder. The breakfast she
didn’t have scrambled in her stomach. Death stared up at her out of acidic eyes.

“You call
me an infant?” He reminded her of the way coals smoldered red when you blew on them.
She should’ve dug the pit deeper. Her muscles still ached from climbing in and out
of the hole, clutching a bucket of dirt, for hours every day. It was ironic. The
pit, where she’d spent so much time being punished, meant she was lucky that
she had an existing pit to use. If only she’d dug it much deeper.

“You’re smaller
than the alien on the TC, the ones that ate the humans.” The Lord help her if
he was a baby alien. What if he grew some more while she waited to hand him
over and the trap wouldn’t hold him anymore.

The alien slammed
his head back against the dirt wall, and she winced. Whatever rumbled in his
chest didn’t bode well for her.

He straightened,
seeming unaware of the stick protruding from his shoulder. Did demons, no aliens,
even feel pain? “Zyrgins do not eat humans.” He managed to convey his low
opinion of her intelligence.

He might say they
didn’t, but she didn’t have to believe him. “How fast do you grow?”

“I. Am not. A
baby.” He thumped his head against the dirt wall with each word. His neck
arched and veins and muscles moved under his tough looking skin. She’d never
seen anyone so muscled. Not even the Space Ranger she’d seen on the TC before
it broke.

She leaned over farther,
grabbing her long black braid before it could hang down into the pit. “If
you’re not a baby, how come you’re so small? And you’ve grown since that first
time you came here.” She’d thought this one scary big that day, until she’d
seen that horrendous monster eating a human. She shuddered. Blood and pieces of
meat had flown everywhere when the alien had bit off a human’s head. Crunching
on the head with big spiky teeth.

He
seemed at a loss for words. His mouth opened and closed a few times, and he
eyed the trap door in a way that caused her heartbeat to go all crazy again. “I
just came out of my third change,” he gritted out.

She had the strong
impression that he wanted to keep thumping his head against the wall. Or jump
out and choke her. She eyed the steel grid. Parts of it were rusted. Even if he
was a baby, he was still bigger than her. Who knew how strong their young were?
“I don’t know what you mean by your third
change.”

He glared up at
her. “We go through three changes and shed our skins.”

She recoiled.
“Like a snake?”

He bared long ugly
incisors, and she recoiled farther.

“I am a grown
Zyrgin warrior.” He snarled at her, and she retreated far enough that she could
still see him, but not so close that he could jump and grab her through the
grid.

He was trapped,
she reminded herself. She was safe from those teeth. She hoped. “I saw one of
you eat a human with my own eyes. He held a man in his claw. So if you’re not a
baby how come you’re not big enough to hold someone in your hand?” Never in her
life did she expect to see something that awful. She was lucky she’d run into a
smaller alien all those years ago, or she might’ve been eaten. At least it
would’ve been over with quick. Joseph’s punishments had been never ending.

She inched forward
again and peaked over the rim of the hole. This alien sitting in the pit of
atonement, muscled arms over his massive chest, fascinated her as much as he
scared her. He was built a lot different than human men. Even the space ranger
didn’t have that many muscles. Everywhere on his body, they bulged and rippled, and she had to remind herself that evil
sometimes came disguised as beauty. Because, despite his snake -like skin and evil eyes, he had a wild, almost
hypnotic beauty.

She’d dug the pit
deeper and planted sharpened sticks at the bottom. One of the sharpened spears
had gone deep into his shoulder. Her stomach turned. It had to be painful. He
slouched down every now and then, and she had the awful feeling he had to
remind himself to appear weak and wounded. “Where did you see a giant Zyrgin
eat a human?” he asked her. He absently wiggled the stick in the wound.

Susannah’s stomach
turned again when blood spurted out of the wound. She gritted her teeth. She
wouldn’t feel sympathy, she wouldn’t.
Because of him, Brother Josephatus had
put her in the pit of atonement. What was wrong with the alien? Didn’t he feel
pain? And why did he act as if she didn’t know anything that happened in the
world?

“On the TC.” It
was strange, being able to admit that she had a TC without fear of punishment. It
showed this creature that she was modern and informed and not a backward person.
Before it stopped working, the TC had been a treasure trove of information
about the outside world. She’d been inconsolable when it just died. After
everything had been taken from her, it had felt as if she was left naked and
bruised.

Another savage
noise from his chest, and she inched back
a bit. “That was resistance propaganda,” he said, managing to sound as if he
knew everything and she said only silly things.

“I saw an ugly
green alien that looked just like you, only bigger, grab a human and bite off
his head. How can the resistance lie about that?” She tapped her forefinger
against the trapdoor. “Tell me that, Mr. Clever Green Demon.”

He stared up at
her, and she had the impression he was at a loss for words.

“I
would’ve preferred to live the rest of my life without seeing that creature
bite of a human head.” She shuddered again. “How can you keep eating with blood
spurting everywhere?” She didn’t know which was worse, all the blood or the
headless body that was still kicking in that awful claw. She swallowed the bile
rising in her throat. It had sucked the blood out of the decapitated human’s
neck. “Crunching heads with your teeth is disgusting.”

“You know about
the resistance?”

“Everyone knows of
them.” He didn’t have to act as if she didn’t know anything about the outside
world. In the short time she’d had the TC, she’d learned a lot.

He relaxed
slightly, leaning back against the dirt wall. Blood oozed out of his wound. He
had red blood, like a human. Did that mean he was one of God’s creatures? Was
she evil because she was determined not to get close enough to him to care for
his wound?

“The resistance
created those films using TC generated images.”

She frowned. Didn’t
want to admit she didn’t know what generated images meant.

He narrowed his
eyes and clarified. “It wasn’t real, those were drawings that moved, not real
Zyrgins and humans.”

She planted her palms
on the ground and leaned slightly over the rim to mock. “Drawings that look
like real people. That move? Only a baby would believe something like that.”
How gullible did he think she was?

He stared up at
her, and again she had the feeling he didn’t know what to say to her. He didn’t
even react to being called a baby.

“How do
you know about the resistance, but not TC generated images?”

There
was something in his voice, some emotion, and—so help her—if it was pity, she’d
put back all the dirt she’d dug out of the pit and bury him alive.

“Caine told me about
the resistance.” He’d shown her a way to contact them, but the alien didn’t
need to know this. She rubbed her chest. She missed Caine and Noah so much.
What did she do wrong? Was she such a terrible person that she had to be
punished like this?

He didn’t move,
the only physical sign of rage was the way his eyes glowed like red hot coals.
But it emanated from him in a wave so strong, she shuffled back, ignoring the
rocks digging into her knees through the heavy fabric of her dress. “Who. Is.
Caine?” His voice was so rough she could barely make out the words.

“No one that needs concern you.” She visited his grave every
day, but she couldn’t stand the thought of Caine in the cold hard earth. When
she stood there, her heart aching, her arms empty, she pretended that he stood with
her. Alive and talking to her. Telling her amazing things about the outside
world. Assuring her that they’d get Noah back.

“I will find out,”
the alien said, and it was a threat. He pointed to the cheese squashed into the
ground when he fell. It lay inside the sizable dent his body had made on the
floor of the pit when he fell in. “Why was there cheese on one of the sticks?”

“It was to lure
you into the hole you evil…Satan.” It had been a huge sacrifice. Her food
stores were depleted, and the soil wasn’t yielding anything anymore.

“It worked, didn’t
it? You’re trapped in the hole like a rat in a trap.”

He moved, as if he
would get up and break through the iron grid. “Do not ever again call me a
rat.”

Keeping a wary eye
on him, she smirked. It was heady to have the upper hand for a change. “I will
call you whatever I want. You’re my prisoner, and you can’t stop me, rat.”
She leaned closer. “Rat, double rat.”

He thumped his
head against the wall of the pit. Several times. Strange grating sounds coming
out of his mouth.

“Are you speaking
your language when you make those strange growly noises?” She liked being like
this, in charge and not afraid to taunt a dangerous being.

He stilled and
nailed her again with those eyes that were
sometimes black and then glowed red in an unholy concoction.

“We call ourselves
Zyrgins and, yes, that was my language. A language so complicated that no other
race has ever managed to speak it.”

If only she had a
gun. “Are you calling me stupid?”

It was the one
thing she’d promised herself when the others left her behind. Never again would
she allow anyone to call her stupid or treat her like she was.

He looked up at her
for a long time. She could almost feel his gaze like a physical touch on her
head scarf, her face and for the longest time her breasts that were, thankfully, properly covered by her
dress. Again, she had the feeling that he understood much more about her than
she was comfortable with. “No, my…no, female, I would never call you that. I
would kill anyone that dared call you stupid.”

“When you came
here all those years ago, why did you appear in front of me and not the other women?”
Every time Joseph put her in the pit, when the lashes fell on her back, when
they took her baby, that’s what she wanted to ask. Why her?

“I did not choose
them.”

“Choose for what
exactly?” She scowled at him. When he’d appeared in front of her, out of thin
air and she’d screamed and ran, she’d made the second biggest mistake of her
life and told the others she’d seen the devil. Even before then, her life had
not been easy among the cousins, on account of her being different. But after
that, Brother Josephatus had said she was touched by evil and that she should
be punished until the evil was purged. Life had become hell. She’d thought it
was hell until they took Noah from her.

“I chose you for
my—” The alien hesitated, as if he tried to hide something from her. “I chose
you as my woman,” he said at last.

She scrambled
back, away from his words, her dress trapped beneath her knees, hindering her. Deep
inside, where she didn’t want to acknowledge it,
she’d known. Even so, it still shocked her that such a creature would want to,
want to….

She couldn’t even
think the words in her mind.

She jerked her
dress out from under her and then leaned forward again. At this rate, she’d wear out her knees. “Never say such a
thing again, you ungodly creature. I would never commit such a sin.” She
shuddered to think of the punishments the others would mete out for something
like that. They might have left her behind, but if she did that, they’d come
back especially to punish her.

The silence
stretched as they tried to outstare each other. His gaze burned her, and she
had to blink. He didn’t. “Your eyes are ugly,” she blurted.

He thumped his
head again, harsh sounds coming out of his mouth. At last, he stilled and visibly calmed himself. “I am
aware of your beliefs. The human woman who…belongs to my leader explained it to
me.”

“One of you took a
human woman?” That poor woman. How could she have relations with such a big…

Her mind wouldn’t
go there. It was a good thing she decided to capture this one. Who knew what he
would’ve done to her if he walked around loose?

“Are you sure
you’re fully grown?”

He was big, but if
his leader was his size at least the human woman he kept captive wouldn’t be
torn apart during relations. Nothing would convince her that the woman went to
the creature of her own free will. Tiredness settled on Susannah’s shoulders. After
she’d found Noah, she’d have to try and find a way to help the poor woman. She
couldn’t live with herself otherwise. Then she’d settle somewhere the brothers
would never find her, and, hopefully, life wouldn’t be a struggle every day.

“Yes, I’m fully
grown,” he said, long suffering.

“I will not be
your—your woman. Your skin is like a snake’s. You must be some kind of unholy
reptile. It would be a sin to have relations with you.” She bit her lip. She
wouldn’t judge the woman their leader had taken. After she’d found a way to
rescue her, Susannah would explain to her that she couldn’t help what was done
to her and couldn’t be held accountable for the sin. If her relatives wouldn’t
accept her back, Susannah would let her stay with her and Noah.

“How did you do
that, what are you?” In the weak light shining into the pit, his skin glowed,
like Cousin Esther’s prized copper pot. The copper shine and the way his
uniform bulged with well-developed muscles was oddly beautiful. Maybe Brother
Josephatus was right. Maybe she was a woman of sin.

“Only a warrior
can change his skin, it should please you that you were chosen by one.”

“The only thing
about you that pleases me is that you are safely captured.” Blood oozed out of
his wound again, and she sighed. “I will bring you some disinfectant and
bandages for your wound.” She couldn’t ignore the fact that he must be in pain
and getting weak from blood loss. But, he’d changed
his skin color.

“Finally, you
react the way my—b—woman should. You will look after my wound and sponge me
down when the fever comes?”

She scowled at him.
“I’m not coming down there. I’ll drop down what you need, and you can do it
yourself.”

He made a low
growly sound that scraped over her skin, and nothing could get her to say it
out loud, but he was strangely beautiful, sitting on the dirt, his throat
arched, those eyes staring at her.

“You are a most
unnatural human female.”

“I’m unnatural? Who’s the freak with the
green skin around here?” A freak that could change it from green and gold to
copper.

“A normal female
would want to bathe my warrior body when the fever comes.” He ignored her
reference to his green skin.

“Are your kind
prone to fevers?” She needed to keep him alive until they came for him. Fevers
were tricky, she’d seen two cousins die from it, but she didn’t dare go down
there.

“No.”

“Are you about to kick
off, is that why you think you’ll get a fever?” she asked and didn’t know if
maybe she should hope for that. She could just hand over his body. She rubbed
the sturdy cotton covering her chest. The thought of this strangely compelling
creature dead made her heart ache.

“Kick off?”

“Die.”

“You wish me dead,
female?” He was scarier than the alien on the TC when he spoke in that
accented, grating voice.

Susannah
stared down at him and had the craziest urge to laugh and laugh until all the
anger, pain, and fear escaped her body. They’d stripped her naked, whipped her,
threw her into the punishment pit for two weeks. Because of him. Because she
told them she saw a green demon. It led to her losing the person she loved more
than her own life. And this creature calmly asked her why she wished him harm. As
if she didn’t carry the reminders of what he’d cost her on her body.

“You cost me
everything, demon. But I don’t wish you dead.” She only wanted him to stay
alive because the resistance would probably pay more for a live alien. Not
because he was less a monster than she remembered.

Maybe when she had
Noah back, she would stop hating him, but now every time she looked at him, she
remembered. The marks on her body ached as if the wounds were fresh. She didn’t
have it in her not to hate him. But she wouldn’t become like Brother
Josephatus. When she found Noah, when she had him in her arms again, she
wouldn’t be a monster that knew only hate. “If you die from the fever, I’d give
you a Christian burial,” she told him. He looked tough to her, and she didn’t
see any sign that he was in pain, but he might be injured worse than she could
see from up here.

“Zyrgin warriors
don’t die that easily, female.” He moved, as if he wanted to stand up and
intimidate her. She was even more grateful now that Brother Josephatus had made
the iron cover for the pit. Life could be strange sometimes. When she’d been in the pit, she’d hated it. Now
it kept her safe. He leaned back again, hunching his shoulders, and, again, she
had the uneasy feeling that he’d forgotten that he was trying to appear weak
and injured.

“I will get the
bandages and antiseptic.” She needed to be away from him for a while. He upset
her in ways she didn’t understand.

“Before you go,
tell me about your TC.”

She turned back
and frowned at him. “My TC?”

“I did not think
your people had technology. You said you saw the propaganda clip on the TC.”

She shrugged. “We don’t.
Brother Josephatus—I mean, Joseph—said it was the devils instrument, but I had
one I kept hidden.”

Joseph had
insisted they called him by that pretentious name. When they left her behind,
she’d promised herself that never again would she call him Brother Josephatus.

Even if they took
her back, she wouldn’t call him that.

“Is Brother Joseph
the male who never did any work and ate so much he became a very round human?”

She smiled, and it
felt strange on her face. Properly raised cousins were supposed to work and not
give themselves over to frivolous pleasures that made you smile. “Yes, that’s Brother
Joseph.”

He cocked his head
at a strange angle. “What do you plan to do with me?”

Ever since she can remember Marie Dry wanted to
travel. She had had the privilege of living in Zambia, Morocco, and Spain and
sees herself as a bit of a gypsy. Every few years she gets restless and has to
be some place new.

She read romances since she was nine and was fairly young when she decided she
would write the perfect story that had all the elements she looked for in a
romance. In 1997 she decided to go all out with her writing and to get
published. Being published by Black Opal Books is a dream come true for her.

There are several wonderful moments in her life that she would never trade for
anything. One of them is meeting President Nelson Mandela and the second being
published.

Tuesday, 5 June 2018

Winter is here and it's time to snuggle up with some DarkSider reads...

NEW RELEASES

Rogue in the Making by TJ Nichols is Book 2 in the Studies in Demonlogy series. It was released by DSP Publications on 22nd May.

The blood sacrifices have brought rain to Demonside, but across the void, the Warlock College of Vinland is still storing and gathering magic, heedless of the warnings of the international magical community. The underground is full of warlocks who disagree with the college, but do they care about wizards and demons or only about snatching power?

With a foot in each world, Angus is no longer sure whom he can trust. The demons don’t trust humans, and even though he is learning more magic, he will never be one of them. He is human and only tolerated. Some demons would be happy to slit his throat. It’s only because his demon is powerful in his own right that Angus is alive.

Saka only has a year to prove that Angus’s people can change and that the magic taken will be rebalanced, but the demons want action. His affection for Angus is clouding his judgment and weakening his position in the tribe. Time is running out, and he must make a choice.

Wolf Bound by Leisl Leighton is Book 4 of the Pack Bound series. It was released by Escape Publishing on the 20th May.

The ultimate sacrifice, a love that lasts forever…

Five hundred years ago, facing extinction, a group of powerful witches united to create a pact with the Were to save witch-kind. The pact expelled an ancient evil, known only as the Darkness, that was blocking the Were from their wolves. With the Darkness destroyed, the Packs and their Covens grew strong as they thrived beside each other in their brand-new world.

But the Darkness was not destroyed.

Shelley Conners has good reason to hate and fear the powers that connect her to the spirit world and the insanity they foretell. But with the Pack's Trickster, Adam McVale, transformed into a Shade, a creature caught between life and death, Shelley holds the only key to saving him. Opening herself up to the world of the dead will only speed up her descent into madness, but Shelley never expects an even darker evil within—the Darkness, waiting patiently for her and the opportunity to destroy the world.

Unlit by Keri Arthur is Book 1 of The Kingdoms of Earth and Air series and was released on 16th May.

Winterborne has long been a city divided between those who have magic, and those who do not. Between those who are free, and those who are not…

Though classified as having no magic, Neve March can hear the whispers of the wind and sometimes even control her. But it’s a secret she must hold close if she wishes to continue as Nightwatch—the soldiers who guard Winterborne against those who roam the wastelands and feast on human flesh. But when Neve investigates a faint SOS signal, she not only unearths a woman close to death, but a plot involving an ancient enemy long thought dead. In an effort to expose those behind the plot, Neve goes undercover amongst Winterborne’s elite—a dangerous step that could expose her secret and rip away all that she holds dear. But the trail of treachery leads her from Winterborne’s golden halls to the heart of the enemy’s hive, and it will shake her belief of not only who she is, but what she is.

Mack 'n' Me: Blaedergil's Host by C.M. Simpson is Book 2 in the Mack 'n' Me Odyssey series and was released by C.M. Publishing on 16 May.

I stayed off Mack's radar for a good three months, or so I'd thought. Maybe he was just letting me run. He found me, kicked my ass and hauled me right back on board. He'd been doing that on and off for the past two years. Problem was, Odyssey was also on my tail, and, when this job was done, Mack was supposed to hand me back. Not gonna happen. And, now I was back to Square One: Kick free of Odyssey & kick free of Mack... just as soon as the mission was done, because how could I turn my back on *that*?

Harper's Choice by C.M. Simpson is an urban fantasy short story released by C.M. Publishing on 1 June.

“The world turns differently for each of us, and we have no choice but to take its hand and dance the next set of steps.” (Argyllis, 2017)

Harper disagreed. Rescuing pixies from drug-runners, and working alongside unicorns and elves was part of her job. The world had turned, and she had chosen, but, when she is badly injured and taken into the elven realms, Harper finds she has a whole new set of steps to choose—and that time, indeed, moves differently in the Other World.

Dear Tiger: Omnibus by Carlie Simonsen is a collection of all six of The Tiger Letters together in one volume. It was released by C.M. Publishing on 25 May.

Away at boarding school, Simone misses her parents, and she misses her friend, Tiger, but they keep in touch, and it’s better than being dragged from one new world to the next. When a package arrives from her parents, Simone’s excited—but, opening it changes her whole world, and only Tiger can help her… if she can reach him, which is a whole lot harder than it seems.

Molly is no stranger to being sick having been regularly in and out of hospitals since the age of 5. She knows her limits and capabilities better than anyone, until she meets a handsome stranger whose compassion and understanding might just have her questioning her entire perspective.

Insightful, eye-opening, and bold, As I Am explores the story of a woman who must question everything she thought about being independent and fearless.

Beach Walk by Annie Seaton is Book 3 of The Bondi Beach Love series and was released by Emerald Romance on 1st June.

Sonia Smith lives in the haunted house on the hill above Bondi Beach. Well, maybe it’s not haunted, but the hint of a ghost in the old house where she reads tea leaves and tarot cards is good for business. When fashion designer, Dave Harris, turns up on Christmas Day, the last thing Sonia needs is a slick business man telling her what to do, how to improve her business, her fashion sense and anything else he has an opinion about.

Dave Harris needs help to organise his charity fashion show and he doubts if he can pull something different out of the box in time. A failed business venture in Japan has shattered his creative confidence. Maybe enlisting Sonia’s help and her quirky ways, will get him out of trouble?

Can Dave convince her to help, but at the same time, can he avoid falling in love with this quirky woman?

Dangerous Echoes by Leisl Leighton is Book 1 in the Echo Springs series which will be released by Escape Publishing as an ebook on 4th September.

Blue lights in the red dust…

Echo Springs on the edge of the outback – a town where everyone knows your name, and your business. But the wholesome country living and welcoming community aren’t what they used to be. Echo Springs has a dark underbelly, and it is seeping ever outward.

Brilliant forensic pathologist, Erika Hanson, fled from Echo Springs as a teenager, leaving behind a past of tragedy and pain. But when local police announce they’ve found her beloved brother’s body in a meth lab explosion, she knows she must return to clear Peter’s name and find out what really happened. Because Peter would never get involved with the drug tag sweeping across the small town of Australia and destroying lives.

Hartley Cooper has a past with Erika Hanson, but that’s not going to keep him from doing his job. He’s seen what grief can do, and denial is only the first step. But Erika is convinced that Peter can’t be involved, and her meticulous, professional skills start to convince Hartley as well. When Erika’s digging and questions get too personal, the town turns against them, Hartley knows Erika might run again. But this time he’s ready. And he’s not going to let her go.

Embers and Echoes by Daniel de Lorne is Book 2 in the Echo Springs series which will be released by Escape Publishing as an ebook on 10th September.

Blue lights in the red dust...

Echo Springs on the edge of the outback – a town where everyone knows your name, and your business. But the wholesome country living and welcoming community aren't what they used to be. Echo Springs has a dark underbelly, and it is seeping ever outward.

A suspicious fire on the edge of town sets Constable Ben Fields on a collision course with firefighter and one–time friend Toby Grimshaw. When the investigation takes a troubling turn that calls the two professionals' integrity into question, the heat gets turned up on Ben and Toby's unresolved history. Ben's got something to prove, but his love for Toby could cost him – and Echo Springs – everything. Meanwhile, will Toby overcome the horrors of his past and find a new future with Ben – or will it all go up in flames?

The print book Echo Springs will be the four stories in the series (the other two by other authors) and will be released by Harlequin MIRA on 20th August.

Story 1 - Dangerous Echoes by Leisl Leighton,Story 2 - Embers and Echoes by Daniel DeLorne,
Story 3 - Echoes of the Past by TJ Hamilton, and
Story 4 - Hope Echoes by Shannon Curtis.

Wholesome country living isn’t what it used to be… This town has a dark side, but what will these cops sacrifice to save it? A compelling suspense, set in the outback.

Blue lights in the red dust…

Echo Springs on the edge of the outback – a town where everyone knows your name, and your business. But the wholesome country living and welcoming community aren’t what they used to be. Echo Springs has a dark underbelly, and it is seeping ever outward.

Four cops…

The small police station is overrun, and officers are working overtime to stem the tide of illegal activity from graffiti through to murder. From prickly Leila to heartsore Ben, Cooper with something to prove to Mac who’s driven to succeed, the Echo Springs force is determined to keep the town safe.

Putting everything at risk…

But the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been, and it’s not just the town these officers have to keep safe. It’s their hearts as well. With bullets flying and bodies piling up, they will have to decide how much they’re willing risk and what they’re willing to lose.

Cotton Field Dreams by S.E. Gilchrist is Book 1 in the Mindalby Outback Romance series which will be released by Escape Publishing as on 2nd July.

Sasha comes to the small town of Mindalby to recover from a traumatic event, plan her next move, and seek out information to avenge her beloved uncle – the last thing she wants is a relationship. But when she meets local single dad, Cole, she can't help but be drawn to his warmth and his humour, and his two engaging children. Cole says and does all the right things, and Sasha finds herself falling, but will all of her secrets destroy the relationship before it has a chance to begin?

Mindalby, a small town, a community, a home. But when the mill that supports the local cotton farmers and employs many of the town's residents closes unexpectedly, old tensions are exposed and new rifts develop. Everyone is affected and some react better than others, but one thing is certain: living on the edge of the outback means they have to survive together, or let their town die.

Blood for the Spilling by TJ Nichols is Book 3 in the Studies in Demonlogy series. It will be the final in the series.

Pirate's Plaything by Denise Rossetti is coming soon.

Non spec-fic titles

Unidentified by Anna Hackett is Book 7 in the Treasure Hunter Security series and contains two novellas. It will be released byon 12th June.

Unidentified contains TWO novellas. Novella #1 (The Emerald Tear) is the story of how Professor Oliver Ward met his feisty treasure hunter wife Persephone (Dec, Cal, and Darcy’s parents). It’s set in the 1970s (yeah, baby!) and be prepared for a dangerous treasure hunt in the dense jungle of Ecuador on the hunt for a lost Incan emerald.

Novella #2 (The Emerald Butterfly) is set in present day in the Florida Keys. It stars sexy former SEAL Diego Torres who is captain of the salvage vessel the Storm Nymph (from Morgan’s book Unfathomed). Diego has scars from his past and a meddling family, and add in a ballsy DEA agent (who once handcuffed him and boarded his ship!) plus the hunt for a lost emerald called the Emerald Butterfly in a ship wreck, and we have an adventure.

Undetected by Anna Hackett is Book 8 in the Treasure Hunter Security series and will be the final in the series. It will be released byon 4th September.

Fast Lane by Juanita Kees is the Book 2 in the Calhoun Customs Garage series. Book 1, Overdrive is to to be released by Tule Publishing on 26th June.